Argentina detected Russian spies serving Moscow's geopolitical interests

Argentina's presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, reported that they detected a group of Russian spies carrying out suspicious tasks in the country to promote Moscow's geopolitical interests by means of the fabrication of fake news.

According to the information, the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) identified an organization called "La Compañía" (The Company), allegedly linked to the Russian regime and the Lakhta project, which according to the United States is a Russian-based operation to carry out political and electoral interference actions.

In that sense, Adorni detailed in a press conference that the Russian citizen Lev Konstantinovich Andriashvili, based in Argentina, heads the organization together with his wife Irina Yakovenko, also Russian. Both were in charge of "receiving funds and promoting links with local collaborators," according to Adorni.

Adorni explained that the activities identified include the creation and dissemination of content on social media, influencing local civil organizations and NGOs, developing focus groups with Argentine citizens and obtaining political information for Russia.

"Argentina will not be subjected to the influence of any other nation," emphasized Adorni, who added that "the security of Argentines is not a secondary issue."

The spokesman clarified that this is "declassified" information and that there is classified material that is "part of the state secret."

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, AFP recalled, the Lakhta project includes Russian disinformation campaigns targeting audiences in the U.S., Europe, Ukraine and Russia itself.